Bobby Parnell indicated the herniated disk in his neck is pushing on a nerve and causing discomfort down his arm. He hopes the epidural -- an anti-inflammatory injection right on the disk which he received Monday at the Hospital for Special Surgery -- will calm the issue. He said he is prepared to get a similar injection in a week after which surgery would be considered if there is no improvement.

Parnell said he would be ready for spring training if he did require surgery.

"It's pushing on a nerve. So we've got to get the inflammation out of there and take it one day at a time see how it goes" Parnell said. "... It's just a holding pattern right now. We'll see what happens. If it works the first time that's great. I think you can have up to two epidurals. I'm going to try that until I can't anymore. If it doesn't work then surgery is an option. If I do have surgery they said I'll be ready for spring training next year. It's just a waiting game right now."

As for the timeline Parnell said: "The first day it came about was the second day in Miami (July 30). I just thought I slept on it wrong or something like that. What really first caused it was a spasm. I felt it and thought it was a muscle spasm. The training staff worked through it for me got me ready for the game. I pitched in the game. I had the next day off just relaxing and everything. It was pretty sore. The third day is I guess when the inflammation really caught up and that is when it was causing me a lot of discomfort. I got about three hours of sleep that night. I couldn't lay down. It went from there. I got the MRI and found out I had the herniated disk.